Irish add offensive lineman Harrell

When Mark Harrell paid a visit to Notre Dame in February, he enjoyed the trip but left campus without a verbal scholarship offer from the Irish staff.

Two days after getting home to Charlotte, N.C., however, the offensive tackle received that offer, and that in turn changed the feel of his next visit, which came in March.

"Loved it even more the second time," Harrell said.

Notre Dame's coaches no doubt loved what Harrell had to say around 7 p.m. Thursday. It was around then that he called Irish assistant Mike Elston and then head coach Brian Kelly to inform them that he was verbally committing.

"I know it's the right one for me and I'm not going back on it," Harrell said.

The 6-foot-5, 270-pound Harrell becomes the seventh member of Notre Dame's recruiting class of 2012. NCAA recruiting rules prohibit Kelly and his staff members from publicly commenting on a recruit until the player has signed a national letter-of-intent.

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Harrell held a slew of offers, and had narrowed his recruitment down to a group that also included national champion Auburn, Clemson, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.

That's quite a turnaround from the beginning of the year. CBS College Sports recruiting analyst Tom Lemming said when Harrell attended the National Junior Combine in early January, he held no offers.